


Late Night Apologies

by xDestinyIsCallingx



Category: Homeland
Genre: F/M, Reader-Insert, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 09:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16720548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xDestinyIsCallingx/pseuds/xDestinyIsCallingx
Summary: You’d been stood up for your date by Peter and even though you’re disappointed your insecurities rise up full force and you convince yourself that maybe it wasn’t that big of a surprise that this would happen anyway, but maybe there’s more to why you got stood up then you thought…





	Late Night Apologies

You lay in bed looking into the darkness, facing the far wall. You had been stood up at a date that was supposed to be tonight. The guy, Peter, hadn’t shown up.

 At first you had felt angry that he had embarrassed you this way, you had given him the benefit of the doubt and waited a long time, feeling more and more self conscious as people gave you sympathetic looks.

You hadn’t known Peter long; you had met at the shop that you worked at. He would be a regular and was always talkative and charming when you would meet at the checkout or when he was looking at some produce that you were stacking. At first you had just smiled and made small talk back and when he left you’d internally high five yourself for acting as cool as you did in front of someone you found so attractive.

Over time he had become a very familiar face and he seemed to seek you out, well it seemed that way to you as whenever he would talk to you while looking at some products he would never actually pick up what he pretended to be considering. 

You had started to anticipate his visits, times between them differing. Sometimes, you’d see him almost every day. Other times, months could go by before you saw him again.

Today had been one of these times when you hadn’t seen him around for awhile, you were at the checkout staring at the clock. It had been a pretty slow day and it being a Sunday it seemed not many people were going to venture out. You had one more hour left of your shift when a guy, dressed in sweat pants and a hoodie, placed some things on the conveyor belt and stood before you as you racked them up on the cashier. It didn’t escape your notice how his eyes were looking you up and down. You didn’t need to see him looking at you to know he was, you could feel it. For some reason he was making you feel very uncomfortable, but you thought you were probably just being silly and gave him a smile as you told him the price.

“Here you go, darling.” He said passing you the money. You reached out to take it and looked up when he didn’t let go of it. Meeting his lewd gaze he winked at you before letting the money go. You avoided further eye contact as you handed him his receipt.

“So, you busy after work?”

You felt your heart rate accelerate. You wished he would just leave if you didn’t answer.

“Hey,” He tried to peer at you as you ducked your head to avoid actually looking at him. “Did you hear me?” 

He reached out as if to grab you but his arm was intercepted by someone grabbing it. You looked up suddenly when you heard the guy say, 

“What the fuck?”

You looked up to see who the hand holding him  belonged to and a small relieved smile came across your face. Peter Quinn.

“I don’t think she’s interested, pal.” Peter said calmly as he let go of the guys arm who pulled it to himself.

“Who are you?”

You looked between them hoping to god he wasn’t going to start a fight. You didn’t want Peter to get hurt on your account.

“Her boyfriend. So I suggest you back off.”

It took a moment to register what he had just said. Did he just call himself your boyfriend?

“Yeah? Well, I reckon that she was into me and if you hadn’t arrived I might have been in. I still might be.” He said giving you a once over with a flick of his eyes, paired with a suggestive smirk.

You gave a alarmed look to Peter who picked up your uneasiness from the corner of his eye.

“I think you’re are a deluded shit head and you need to go now.”

You watched Peter and how cool he was acting around this jerk. What you didn’t know about Peter was that he could play it cool for a fair amount of time, but inside he was planning out all the ways he would teach the person who was pushing his buttons a lesson, it took a lot for him to get physical with someone, but woe betide anyone who dared to push him. 

You looked over to the guy, he still didn’t seem to get the message that he should probably just give up and leave. If you had known you might have said something to get the guy to go as you were also unaware of how much trouble this guy was getting himself into if he continued harassing you.

You were so busy in your thoughts you must have missed something Peter did because all of a sudden the guy got a funny look on his face and started to collect up his purchases and leave.

“Whatever, man. She’s not worth it.”

You gave his retreating form a quizzical look before returning you focus back to Peter.

“What the hell was that about?”

Peter looked at you innocently as he placed a few items down.

“What?”

“Just then. Why did he look like he was about to piss himself?”

Peter shrugged and gave you a roguish smile. 

“Who knows.”

You looked at him suspiciously but let it go. You were happy he was gone and that was that. 

While you had been in your own thoughts, there must have been something in Peter’s eyes that had conveyed a message to the guy from before and luckily for him he was smart enough to pick up on it and move on.

“It’s nice to see you again,” You said a little shyly. “Where have you been? It’s been a while.”

Peter nodded as he bagged the items.

“My work. Sometimes I have to travel quite a bit.”

“Oh, wow. Sounds adventurous.”

“Very.”

You smiled as you took his money and handed him his receipt. Your smile faltered a little when he still was standing there after he had paid.

“Is there something wrong? Did you forget something?”

He licked his lips as he fiddled with the paper bag slightly.

“No, uh. I was wondering if maybe you would like to go out with me. Tonight, perhaps?”

You gaped at him and his eyebrows raised waiting for an answer.

“Errr, is that a no?”

You shook your head to snap yourself out of your daze.

“Wait, are you asking me out?”

“Yeah. Pretty sure I did.”

“Why?”

You felt stupid for asking that out loud and felt even more so at Peter,s confused expression.

“Because I think you’re pretty and I like you. Is that a good reason why?”

You blushed at being called pretty.

“Ah, yeah. It’ll do.”

He gave a small laugh as he picked up his purchases, “How about I meet you at the diner down the road. 7 okay for you?”

You couldn’t believe a cute guy like him was really asking you out.

“Sure, sounds great.”

He gave you a soft smile as he walked out. You watched him leave still a little dumbfounded. You looked at the clock again, you would have two hours once your shift had ended to get ready, you felt a slight panic come over you as the reality of having a date dawned on you. 

“Oh my,” You said to yourself as you took a deep breath and a grin that you couldn’t help broke out across your face.

* * *

You lay in your room now feeling like a complete idiot. Of course you had been stood up! You were so boring and uninteresting, not to forget average looking, how did you ever think a guy like Peter was interested in you. But, why would he ask you out in the first place? Just to play with you? That hurt if that was true.

There could be another reason, your thoughts that were still trying to keep positive supplied. Yeah, maybe he got caught up with work? If only you had given him your number, you might have known the answer to that.

It was getting close to midnight and you couldn’t sleep with all the thoughts going around your head. You sighed heavily and the tiredness was adding to your humiliation and you started to get a bit teary. You wiped at your eyes angrily. You were about to get up and go to the kitchen to make yourself a hot drink in an attempt to make yourself feel better when a knock at the patio doors in your bedroom made you jump and shout out in surprise. The curtains were drawn so you couldn’t see who was there, but you felt a spike of anxiety when you heard the knock again. You didn’t know what to do. Who could it be? You looked to your phone, should you call the police?

When there was another knock you reached for your phone, a voice following the knock halted your actions. Was that Peter?

You slowly approached the glass doors and peeled back the curtain slowly to reveal Peter. You gave him a confused look.

“What are you doing here?”

You were prepared to shut him down immediately no matter what his answer was but looking into his earnest face and noticing how his ruffled hair made him look even more attractive you couldn’t help letting your walls crumble a little.

“I’m sorry. I got called in to help with a job and it took longer than I expected. I would have called, but…”

He wanted to tell you the reason why he had been detained, but he felt that telling you would be too dangerous at the moment, he wasn’t in danger or being watched or anything it was just better for the time being to not reveal too much about his line of work. 

You were so relieved that he hadn’t stood you up on purpose that you almost weren’t going to ask how he even knew where you lived.

“Hang on. I didn’t give you my number, but I also didn’t tell you where I lived.”

He looked a little taken off guard, “Um… I’ve seen what kind of car you drive and happened to notice it parked up outside?”

“Is that the reason or one you hope I’ll believe.”

“Both?”

You laughed at that.

“Okay, but why didn’t you knock at the front door?”

He didn’t seem to have an answer for that.

“This is more romantic?”

“No, now you’re stretching. Look, it’s fine. I appreciate that you came to tell me. To be honest I was worried that you had stood me up on purpose and was just playing with me.”

“I’m not that kind of guy.”

“No, you’re not.”

You both looked at each other for an extended period of time, getting lost in his blue eyes you didn’t notice him start to lean in. You found yourself taking a sharp in take of breath as his lips touched yours. You hadn’t expected for him to kiss you but then again you weren’t complaining either. He was tentative at first, just brushing his lips against yours at first, he only pulled back slightly, giving you a chance to decide if you wanted to continue or not. You weren’t about to miss this chance, so you tipped you face upwards inviting him to kiss you again. He did just that, tilting his head to the side to get a better angle, he pressed against you making you lean against the door jamb, his arm coming to lean beside you to keep his balance, his other hand cupping your face. It was an intense yet tender kiss and over all too soon for your liking.

As he pulled away it took you a few moments for your eyes to re-open. When they did you were met with Peter’s soft smiling face, he really was quite pretty. You blushed as his eyes scanned your face.

“Listen, I’ve got to go.” His voice sounded a little rougher than before your kiss and if that didn’t thrill you a little. “But, the next time I’ll definitely take you out on that date.”

You pushed your hair behind your ear.

“You better.” 

You shared a smile and he placed a kiss on your forehead and gave you one more lingering look before he turned to leave, you watched him jump up over your wall, making you laugh. He gave you a wink before he dropped down the other side. You shut your door and closed the curtains, heading back to bed with a stupid grin still plastered to your face. You couldn’t quite believe how your evening had turned out, you hoped it wouldn’t be too long before you saw him again.


End file.
